FRESHMEN CONVOCATION 1973

Remember the lyrics? Chances are you don’t because they were sung by batchmate Angelita de Ocampo who played the “mataray na tiyahin” in the freshmen convocation of 1973, held at the old QPHS Gymnasium! It launched the ala Time Machine plot of the story for our three “bidas” namely Romulo Liporada (who also sang “I’ll Be Your Long-Haired Lover From The Liverpool” there earlier), Maritess Caja and that I-EM batchmate who did his “paiyak-iyak” version of “Ang maging ulila, sa balat ng lupa, ay kaawa-awa, laging lumuluha” (Sino nga nga baga ito?) after they were pushed by Angelita ……kaya nagkalabugan at nagtalbugan sila sa sahig na tabla ng stage…”Blog-bugudog!” Hungry and super “api” like Rosa Mia, they fell asleep …….

Next scene … The trio found themselves in the Pre-historic period, with I-AC batchmates in Fred and Wilma Flintstone costumes! ( “A-ah, ay para silang mga Ati-atihang puyat”
…remember?) Sound effects (Tunog ng drum)…”Tug-tug-tug! Tug-tug-tug! Tug-tug-tug! Tug-tug-tug!” Ramon Beloso did a “payat na Barok” number singing “Way down in the Congo Land, there lived a happy chimpanzee”. .Michelia Oriel sang back …..”Abadaba-daba-daba-daba-daba-daba,said the monkey to the chimp, Daba-daba-daba-daba-daba-daba-daba, said the chimpy to the monk!”…….”Then the big baboon one night in June, he married them and very soon, they went upon the Abadaba honeymoon!” … (Ungga! Ungga! Ungga!)…Asan ang mga baging?

Unlike in The Coconut’s Graduation Issue Last Will And Testament, we didn’t bequeath these peculiarities to batch ’78 as tradition dictated. We keep these characteristics as a hallmark of our four-year stay in Quezon High much like our thumbmark imprints and DNA identities.
They may seem to be influenced by the legacy of the times that due to chronology, we shared with our three older (batches ’74, ’75 and ’76) and three younger (batches ’78, ’79 and ’80) co- transients in QPHS …like the old wooden grandstands to the then newly-renovated Alcala ( later changed to Marcos ) Sports Complex, the death of the beautiful PE Teacher Miss Wilhelmina Valle, the “bulok”
PNB Mag-impok Movement Bus, STAA ’75 and ’77, Palarong Pambansa ’76,the 2nd Best School Paper Award in NSSPC ’77 and the QPHS Diamond Jubilee celebrations….which were made vermillion and magenta by such national events and local-international trends in sounds, dances and crazes …like the advent of the New Society ( Bagong Lipunan, Bagong Pagsilang and the Mabuhay Ang Filipino Movement…Ngek! ), Miss Universe 1973 Margie Moran and the 1974 Miss Universe in Manila, the Hotdog’s “Unang Kagat” album, the Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali “Thrilla in Manila in ‘75, the Commodores and the Bump, MFSB’s TSOP, the LA Walk and the Salsa, John en Marsha, Ayos Lang Pare Ko,
Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop Sa Balat Ng Lupa,, Tinimbang Ka Nguni’t Kulang, Maynila Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jaws, Soylent Green, Rico J. Puno and his “Beybi-beybi”, etcetera.

Be it as it may however, QPHS Batch ’77 is a very unique lot in that it is the transition batch, always at the threshold of the old and the new….. the first Martial Law elementary grads thus the last to enter First Year High School with a six period grading scheme, the first to have Philippine Community Life as Social Studies subject and the last to use the old wooden grandstands for the whole year, the first to have elective subjects and the last to have Miss Paciencia Daleon as Principal upon graduation, the first to graduate without the Vocational Curriculum and the last to have Mr. Emmanuel Cena as Agriculture teacher, the first to have a non-glossy The Coconut Graduation Issue cover with no descriptive data other than birthdays for each graduate and the last to have Mr Gerry de Villa as Scouting teacher and his Green Badge Circle program.

Batch ’77 may not have either produced any Mutya Ng Paaralan or been declared as Intramurals champion but the group has no lack of beautiful faces and athletic achievers.
Let’s just say, high school crowns and laurels as such were simply not fated for us, not meant for our taking then. We entered and passed the length and breadth of Quezon High like everyone else and have etched our own footprints there, just as the famous stars and celebrities have walked theirs in the Hollywood Walk of Fame .It’s all in the mind I guess……

And so without further ado, aside from those of the time honored pages of our un glossy Graduation Issue cover, we look at the way we were some thirty to thirty-four years back, and see for ourselves the veritable who’s who on batch 77’s “Pinaka” list….. whether it be from the absurd to the profound, Il Buono, Il Cattivo e Il Bruto, Shake, Rattle and Roll, Walandyo – Walastik, Bet’cha-By Golly-Wow! or simply Eat Bulaga and Wowowie! And the winners are …
Pinaka Maputi – Grace Afable
Pinaka Matangkad na Teacher – Mrs. Adelina Obleada – Sombilla